You can see that they have co-opted my entire post (and this isn't the only one). Nearly my entire blog is included. Also, if you look at the gray bar at the top of the image, you can see beneath the URL my identification as "Barbara, Author at Quilt Patterns Pro". I do not have a relationship with these folks, and never heard about this site before reading Megan's post last night. They don't link back to my blog in any way. Even clicking on titles or my name will not take you to my blog.
This seems to be a site set up to present ads from various companies, and if someone clicks through, it generates revenue for the blog owner. The confusing thing is that I can't see that it serves any other purpose. I don't even see any free patterns, although that purports to be its reason for existence. In any case, I checked with the resident expert on such things to see if I should be outraged about this, and he said I should. So, okay...I'm stamping my foot right now and shaking my fist at Quilt Patterns Pro for what is decidedly a pretty cheeky way to do business. (I love you my British, et al, readers..."cheeky" is such a great word.)
They seem to be stealing content from a lot of quilt bloggers, and so I strongly suggest that you scroll to the bottom of their page where you'll find a search box. You can search for your own blog name and see if you've been included in their dastardly deeds. If you have, then I'm incorporating Megan's suggestions (with her permission) for what you should do next.
1. Megan is putting a banner on her blog, thus:
I'm not sure I want to do that since I'm not sure it will accomplish anything other than inconveniencing me. You can decide for yourself whether to include that on your own blog.
2. The site is apparently sponsored by GoDaddy, although I'm not sure how anybody knows that. Let's assume that's accurate since outrage demands action. You can go here to read GoDaddy's policy regarding trademark and copyright infringement and then send an email to CopyrightClaims@godaddy.com to register your complaint.
3. I suggest going to this link where you can leave a comment on the website to register your outrage.
4. Finally, share about this on your own blog to help spread the word. Never underestimate the power of this community of blogging quilters when we register a protest.
Distressing, I know. Once you've decided and acted on your individual course of action, forget about this and have a nice day.
13 comments:
I called godaddy -- they referred me to the hosting site which is Unified Layer dba Blue Host. Their number is 888-401-4678. The woman I spoke with said that what we needed to to was send them an email to legal@bluehost.com using a DMCA formatted letter regarding the abuse. A sample DMCA format can be found here: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sample-dmca-take-down-letter/id=4501/ You'll have to include the quiltpatternspro.com URLs for your pirated posts and then the URL where you posted the content originally. Whew. :)
I just went to the site. I bet it's some kind of creeper program, since one of the posts from another blogger is all about the stealing, how she handled it, with a complete form letter you can use to send to go daddy. Obviously, no one is proof reading the content they are swiping before they repost it. I agree that it really makes no sense what they are doing.
I think it's horrible that they are stealing your content! I was going to suggest that you ad a watermark to your pictures so if they try to swipe your material again it will only bring people back to your site. I used to have the same thing happen on a couple of other sites that compile patterns and blog content, but once I added the watermark to my pictures I haven't had them swipe my content. I always read your lovely posts from either your site or bloglovin!
I just went to the site and nothing showed up, so maybe they got taken down? I could see it if they posted as postings from other blogs to show people what is on the web and places they can visit, but it does seem that they are using other content for their site and probably trying to make money off of it as well, so hopefully that is the end of them;)
Debbie
Thanks for the warning, Barbara. i just clicked on your link to the website and got an "Internal Server Error" message so maybe the site has been shut down.
I got the same thing but you better check back from time to time or Google pieces of your blog to see if anyone else has it.
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
I got the same thing but you better check back from time to time or Google pieces of your blog to see if anyone else has it.
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
It's amazing what people think is OK.
Thieving is the worst way to lie. However, I think you need to be careful when you choose your words ... GoDaddy is probably where they bought their domain name but I doubt they are sponsoring such a site. I only point this out because while I'm not a huge GoDaddy fan, I don't think they should share any of the blame for this unethical behavior.
I had checked the site when Megan first posted about it & couldn't believe how they had made it look like she was affiliated with them. Good to know it's been taken down already!
I just clicked on the hyperlink to this site and it's down. So I guess the democracy of the blogosphere made itself felt!
I'm just hearing about this (behind in blog reading as usual) and the entire site is gone now. I just don't get people like that. Thank goodness most of us are honest.
Looks like the site is down...i clicked on your link and it doesn't open anything...
So GOOD FOR YOU FOR REPosting!
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